28 The Art of Accompaniment
call of the Holy Spirit to go forth “by tak[ing] the first step,” and seeking
to “bear fruit and rejoice” through intentional relationship in the Christian
community (Evangelii Gaudium, 24). A mentor’s apostolate begins at their
Baptism as they are incorporated into the Body of Christ, are made sharers
in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly ministries of Christ, and are given
responsibilities as members of the faithful (Catechism of the Catholic Church
#1267-1270). The call of the mentor is nurtured and cultivated through the
living out of the Christian life and responded to by intentional engagement
of spiritual accompaniment. The work of the mentor in the apostolate of
spiritual accompaniment is to provide a presence that is “steady and reas-
suring, reflecting our closeness and compassionate gaze which also heals,
liberates and encourages growth in the Christian life” (Evangelii Gaudium,
169). One who accompanies walks spiritually alongside another at a pace
that reassures, encourages, and progresses towards a definitive direction.
In this spiritual walking alongside another, a mentor accompanies through
tenderness and humility, recognizing the holiness to be found in relation-
ship through “remov[ing] [their] sandals before the sacred ground of the
other” (Evangelii Gaudium, 169). Accompaniment is a journey of mutuality
and respects the work of the Holy Spirit and the mystery of the human
person; a mentor who is called to accompaniment must “realize that each
person’s situation before God and their life in grace are mysteries which no
one can fully know from without” (Evangelii Gaudium, 172). A response to
the call to spiritual accompaniment requires that a mentor be open to these
and other qualities, seeking formation to strengthen their own gifts and
talents to provide fruitful ministry to the Christian community.
Besides the basic qualities of leadership, patience, humility, respect, and
compassion, a mentor who seeks to accompany others spiritually is an ac-
tive participant in their own formation and in the cultivation of additional
qualities that properly dispose them to walk patiently with another towards
the Person of Christ.